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Sunday, December 25, 2016

Christmas Disappointments

I can't really recall how greedy I was as a child. I know that occasionally I did ask for too much, and I probably just didn't have great boundaries in general. At least on one occasion, I played with my brother's toys (probably far more often than that he would tell you). I'm sure this tailed off though I can't recall when. All this is to say that I can't recall being completely disappointed at Christmas time, though I'm sure I got my share of clothing, over which I had to feign excitement. Still, I don't think I ever asked for anything big and then didn't get it. I could well have suppressed this, however.

My children are not all that into toys, and they've never really cottoned onto Lego, so I've stopped getting them additional sets. Fortunately, they enjoy getting books, though finding books worth buying as presents (that they might actually read more than once) is a challenge. While it is hard to believe, my daughter wanted a dictionary and thesaurus last year, and was inconsolable when it wasn't the first thing or second she opened. Fortunately, she did open it next, but it did put a bit of a damper on the morning.

There was not a repeat this year, and while there were not a lot of presents, it seemed like a reasonable number, when the books from their grandparents were added in. And she definitely liked the atlas she got this year!

However, my daughter didn't care for the cat, as I suspected. In fact, she knew in advance. I had wondered about the possibility she would see the previous blog post (and had considered holding off posting for another day), but she usually considers what I write totally boring and isn't interested in it. So I followed Poe's lead in The Purloined Letter and put it out in plain sight (or rather on a tab in the browser, though the browser wasn't open to it). Well, apparently she was even more bored by playing her other computer games, and wandered over to this blog and read the post about my sewing adventures! Oh well. (Maybe the current generation is too clever to be outwitted by reverse psychology.)

So now I have to decide whether to hold onto it, or give it to a
friend's daughter, which was the original intent. I'll probably hold
off until I see how the fish turn out. At the moment, the cat will keep
me company at the computer.

The weather is sort of strange. We still have snow (actually white Christmases are oddly rare in Toronto...), but it is started to melt and Boxing Day is supposed to be fairly warm. It was really overcast and dark (and actually a bit dreary while opening presents), but now it is starting to look like a decent day and the sun is even coming out a bit.

I'll try to get out for at least a little while on Boxing Day (there's still one theatre showing Dr. Strange) and perhaps do a bit more on the 27th.

I'm debating whether to take my son to Rogue One. It just seems like a total retread of all the other movies, but I'm sure he'd enjoy it. I will probably figure out a way to make one last trip to Honest Ed's (and Fabricland!), but my daughter is fighting off a cold, so she can't come along. Aside from that, it has been a pretty good Christmas so far.

One person who will be disappointed, though, is the paper delivery guy. I actually got a card from him two weekends ago, and I guess it is more traditional to tip them the week before Christmas. However, last weekend there was a big snow storm and I didn't get the paper until well after noon, and then Sunday I got the paper dumped in the middle of the yard. I wasn't really in the tipping mood. I did put out an envelope taped to the mailbox Sat. morning, but since he doesn't actually come into the yard, I guess he'll just miss out. As far as I can tell, we don't actually get a paper today, though there might be one on Boxing Day. I'll put the envelope out one last time, but I don't think he'll see it. Not much more I can do than that.

Anyway, happy holidays and best wishes for 2017! (We're all going to need it...)